Just what is that Google mystery barge? A floating data center? A Google Glass showroom? A party boat? One of the things that seems to have thrown off the sleuths trying to deduce its purpose: They're looking at the wrong lease. A week ago, CNET broke the story of the Google mystery barge, in part by using a bunch of clues based on the current leaseholder for Hangar 3 on Treasure Island: a Delaware company called By and Large....

Michael Jackson's last Los Angeles-area residence, a French chateau in Holmby Hills, has come on the market at $28,995,000. The pop icon was leasing the 17,171-square-foot stately mansion at $100,000 a month at the time of his death last year. The Richard Landry-designed estate, built in 2002, has a theater, a wine cellar and tasting room, an art studio, a gym with a spa, and an elevator. The guesthouse has stained-glass doors leading to the pool and gardens. There are seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and 12 fireplaces.

Fleur de Lys, the Westside mansion that recently sold for a Southern California record-breaking price of $102 million, is now available for lease for $400,000 a month to long-term tenants. The timing is good for the new, and as yet unidentified, owner. Another mega estate, historic Beverly House in Beverly Hills, reentered the for-sale market at $135 million and also is available to let at $600,000 a month -- making Fleur de Lys look like a relative bargain. Fleur de Lys claims roughly 50,000 square feet of living space on five acres.

Question: When I lost my job recently I realized I couldn't continue to pay the rent on my apartment. I didn't want to risk eviction or damages for breaking my lease, so I rented one of my bedrooms to a former co-worker. I knew at the time that my lease prohibited subletting without the owner's permission, but I was desperate. This guy stayed a couple of months and then moved out without any warning and without paying the last month's rent. I wrote to him demanding the money he owed me, but he replied that I couldn't collect rent from him because it would have been a violation of my lease.

How much would you pay to live where William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies called home? How steep is too steep to sleep where John and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned? OK, rich kids of Instagram , what would you say to a Beverly Hills manse with a $600,000-a-month lease? And yes, if you can afford it, you can brag: Its listing agent, Jeffrey Hyland of Hilton & Hyland, says the Mediterranean-style house “may be the most expensive lease in the country.” So now we'll see if those tax increases we voted for in November really have chased all the rich people out of California.

A state program leasing wildlife protection areas to farmers failed to properly spend and report at least $1.7 million in rental income as part of the normal budget process last year, according to an internal state investigation announced Thursday. The irregularities in the program run by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife follow a string of similar controversies at agencies including the Recreation and Parks Department and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection where money was stashed in off-budget accounts.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Angels owner Arte Moreno said Friday that negotiations with the city of Anaheim for a new stadium lease are “at a stalemate,” but he stopped short of saying he was aggressively pursuing a new home for the team. “We haven't crossed that line yet,” Moreno said while Angels pitchers and catchers finished their first day of spring-training workouts. “In September, we thought we had a good outline for a deal … but the reality is, we have not been able to get it done.

Question: I own two houses on the same street. I live in one and rent out the other. The tenants in the rental house have seven months left on their lease. I would like to move my wife's mother into the rental house so she can move out of my house. Will I be able to do that? Answer: A lease is an agreement that is binding on all parties to it, tenant and landlord. Some leases have "escape clauses" that allow either party to cancel upon giving notice, typically 30 days. If the lease agreement you used for this rental does not include an escape clause, you have no general right to unilaterally cancel the lease.

Known for the great variety of the roles he plays, Leonardo DiCaprio now is trying his hand at Malibu beach house landlord. He has listed this Cape Cod-inspired home for $75,000 a month for a long-term tenant or $150,000 a month for leases of less than six months. His Malibu Colony compound was recently remodeled and features a four-bedroom main house on the ocean side, a two-bedroom guest house and a detached loft with gym. There is a beach-front deck, a fire pit, gardens and lawn on the less-than-half-acre lot. DiCaprio, 37, whose blockbuster hits include "Titanic" (1997)

A deal to give USC control of the taxpayer-owned Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum promises the public a share of the money from Trojan football games and other events the school stages there. But in big-time college sports, such a commitment is no guarantee, experts say. That's not because they expect USC to lose money as steward of the Coliseum and its bank accounts. The Trojan gridiron program is considered one of the most financially successful in the NCAA, with annual ticket sales alone hovering around $20 million.